Breaking News: Judge Approves 9/11 Settlements Worth $500 Million

This just in: A federal judge in New York has approving settlements in 95 of the 98 cases filed on behalf of those injured or killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The total amount payed was close to $500 million, according to the mediator in the case, Sheila Birnbaum, of Skadden, Arps. Click here for the early AP story; here for a copy of Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s order, which attaches Birnbaum’s report.

The lawsuits were brought by those who chose not to participate in the Victim’s Compensation Fund, a special fund Congress established that distributed more than $7 billion to more than 5,000 survivors.

Trial dates for the remaining three cases have not been set.

The order contains some remarkably glowing words for Birnbaum, a well-known mass-tort and product-liability lawyer, who just might think of framing the page from the West Reporter that ends up running the decision. It reads:

Ms. Birnbaum, assisted by Mr. Fox, has performed extraordinary work to settle the September 11 wrongful death and personal injury litigation. In her report, Ms. Birnbaum describes the settlement process and the factors that most influenced settlement values. She allowed each of the plaintiffs’ families to express their loss and the quality of the lives lost on September 11. She absorbed their losses and their pain with empathy and brought opposing counsel and high officers of the airlines to sit in their presence and hear their stories. She gained plaintiffs’ confidence. Without her assistance, most of these cases, in my opinion, would not have settled.